The present invention relates generally to sealing compositions, and more specifically to sealing compositions for use with heat exchange systems.
Vehicle manufactures typically advise owners of their vehicles to change the antifreeze in the cooling systems of their vehicles every two years, in order to prevent the accumulation of corrosion materials, such as rust and solder corrosion residue. The corrosion materials are often formed as some corrosion inhibitors in antifreeze break down from heat over time. These corrosion materials reduce cooling system efficiency by interfering with the flow of coolant through the air/liquid heat exchanging fin-tubes of the radiator core. An effective cooling system is not only important for engine performance and life, but in many automobiles the transmission fluid may also be cooled by circulation through the radiator. Further, the abrasive nature of the suspended corrosive materials may increase the wear on the water pump, hoses, thermostat, and heater core—and malfunction of cooling system components is said to be a significant cause of highway breakdowns.
As vehicles age, small leaks often form in the radiator. One means of preventing loss of cooling fluid through these small leaks without replacing the radiator is to add a so-called “stop leak” composition to the radiator. These “stop leak” sealing compositions for automotive heat exchange/cooling systems have been known for several years. However, these sealing compositions generally did not include corrosion inhibitors. As such, if vehicle owners were not careful about flushing the cooling system and replacing used antifreeze with new antifreeze having new corrosion inhibitors therein, the radiator may continue to corrode and form new leak paths. Further, if the vehicle owner added conventional coolant to extended life coolant (or vice versa) in the vehicle, the corrosion inhibitors in these coolants are generally not compatible. As a result, the corrosion inhibitors in both types of coolants may not work properly, perhaps leaving the radiator substantially without effective corrosion resistance.